Chef of Michelin-starred Rome restaurant shares his top tips for seeing the capital

The chef at Rome’s only three Michelin-starred restaurant, La Pergola at the Rome Cavalieri hotel, gives his tips on the best the city has to offer.

Chris Dwyer

3 min read

April 23, 2025 - 10:44AM

Lifestyle

Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News.

Got travel plans to the capital of Italy? Heinz Beck, chef at La Pergola, knows exactly where you should check off your bucket list.

The hotel I always recommend is…

Roma Cavalieri! It’s the only city resort in Rome. Three things are fundamental in a great hotel: the mattress, the service and the quietness. With our location on the highest hill in Rome, you can open up the window and still sleep – you can’t do that in the city as there’s too much noise. But we’re only 15 minutes to the city, so it’s perfect. You can sleep and wake up to the most beautiful view imaginable, over all of Rome. There’s real timeless elegance and also a marvellous pool area.

A tour you should do is...

A Vespa tour, either on the back of a Vespa or with a sidecar, which is really cute and a bit more stable. It lets you live like a Roman. Drive up to the Forum, Villa Borghese, the Paolina Bonaparte museum. It’s an incredibly beautiful city and you can go all over and park them easily. It’s the most authentic way to see a lot of incredible places in a very short time.

Heinz Beck's guide to exploring Rome

The best time to go is…

In the autumn or spring, when it’s not too hot; there are breezes and fewer visitors than in summer. The best thing about life in Rome is the flair – how the city and the people live their lives. It’s an open-air museum and every piazza has its own character. Every angle is photogenic. Wander and grab cappuccino, then a pizza, then a gelato. People watch and talk. You can easily go and talk to people you don’t know; they’re very friendly. People like to talk more than listen but you only learn by listening.

In Rome I return to...

Many places. The 16th century Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, where they have three works by Caravaggio, and it’s free to get in. It’s a beautiful place, halfway between Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. The Palazzo Altemps, part of the National Museum of Rome, with more than 100 sculptures from Roman times through to the Middle Ages. Also, under the Palazzo Valentini they discovered two Roman residences which have been bought to life by multimedia and an amazing light show.

Roman ruins in Rome, Italy

Don’t miss eating...

Cacio e pepe. It’s the simplest dish in the world, with just three ingredients, but it’s tricky to make a good one. To make the perfect one, the Pecorino Romano cheese needs a black rind, must not be too young as it’s too milky, but not too old as it’s too acid or sharp. Then the perfect pepper needs to be aromatic.

If you like cocktails go to...

The Jerry Thomas Project. They have two places on different sides of the river: a speak-easy, where you need a secret password to get in, and a bar room. My goto Italian drink would be a negroni, but if not, I like a cosmopolitan. It has to be balanced, not too sour or sweet, and you shouldn’t taste the alcohol.

Order a Negroni... or two.

The best place to eat is...

Roscioli does a great job, or La Taverna Trilussa in Trastevere, which has been open for more than a century. It’s lovely to walk around there in the evening; it’s full of bars and a friendly crowd. Order the bombolotti alla carbonara or bucatini all’amatriciana. For drinks, spritzes, but only in the summer as it’s too cold in the autumn or winter.

Rome is perfect for romantics because…

I can’t answer that – I’m married! No, it’s a gentle city, rich in emotions. Wherever you go and whatever you do, there are emotions. Try driving a Vespa around the streets with your fiance on the back. Then watch Roman Holiday.